The grocery store can be a scary place for a new vegan. Sometimes it's not always obvious whether a product contains animal products or not. If it's just bread, it should be safe, right? Sadly this is not always the case and animal-derived products can show up on the ingredients list under names you wouldn't expect.

Next time you're at the store, watch out for these sneaky ingredients. Where they appear may surprise you.

]]>The grocery store can be a scary place for a new vegan. Sometimes it’s not always obvious whether a product contains animal products or not. If it’s just bread, it should be safe, right? Sadly this is not always the case and animal-derived products can show up on the ingredients list under names you wouldn’t expect.

Next time you’re at the store, watch out for these sneaky ingredients. Where they appear may surprise you.

Casein or caseinate – casein is derived from milk, and may even appear in soy cheese which you’d assume is a vegan-friendly product.

Lactose – lactose is also derived from milk.

Whey – whey is the liquid left over after cheese curds are formed, and is therefore a dairy product.

L-cysteine or L. Cysteine – this ingredient is made of feathers or hair, sometimes even human hair! It is often found in bread or bakery items.

Isinglass – most alcohol does not display an ingredients list, so it’s important to use a website like Barnivore to check to see if the alcohol you’re purchasing is vegan. Some companies also list their ingredients on their website. Isinglass is made from fish bladders!

Shellac or Confectioner’s glaze – or really most other glazes and waxes – other than caranuba which is derived from a plant – are made from insect secretions. Weird!

Gelatin – derived from animal collagen, this ingredient is often found in candy. Look for candy that contains vegan-friendly alternatives like agar agar instead.

Sugar – sugar can sometimes be whitened with bone char, which would obviously mean it isn’t vegan. Organic sugar does not use bone char, and alternatives like cane sugar or coconut sugar are safe as well. Some companies will label their product or post on their website if their product is not whitened with bone char. Mary from Mary’s Test Kitchen wrote a great, thorough blog post about vegan-friendly sugar.

Carmine, cochineal, carmic acid, or red #4 – many foods that contain red food dye are made with insects. If you see any of these words on the label, usually towards the end of the ingredients list, it’s not vegan-friendly.

Mono and diglycerides – These are preservatives in food that may come from animal products, but equally could be plant-based. It may specify on the package if the item is vegan or vegetarian friendly.

Omega-3s – most sources of commercially-available Omega-3s come from fish.

Royal jelly – this is a bee byproduct.

Vitamin D3 – often found in fortified products, these sources of D3 are usually derived from fish.

As someone who is trying to reduce our impact on the planet and its animals, it’s up to us to purchase products that don’t contain these ingredients. Maybe one day producers will stop using them if the demand is high enough.

It can be very hard to remember all of these items to avoid, especially when it comes to things like E-number additives and products fortified with vitamins that may come from an animal source. Do the best you can when you can! The easiest way to avoid reading all of the labels in the grocery store is to stick to whole foods like vegetables, fruit, beans, legumes, and grains.

]]>http://plantbasedmealprep.ca/ingredients-to-watch-out-for/feed/286How to Save Money as a Cold-Climate Veganhttp://plantbasedmealprep.ca/how-to-save-money-as-a-cold-climate-vegan/
http://plantbasedmealprep.ca/how-to-save-money-as-a-cold-climate-vegan/#respondSun, 30 Dec 2018 23:32:06 +0000http://plantbasedmealprep.ca/?p=21I'm always surprised when people tell me that it costs more money to be vegan than to be a meat-eater. Most plant-based people (including us) eat some of the cheapest items on the market on a regular basis: beans, rice, and vegetables. Living in a cold climate makes it a bit difficult to grow a lot of your own food so most of us have to rely on grocery stores and imported produce for much of the year.

]]>I’m always surprised when people tell me that it costs more money to be vegan than to be a meat-eater. Most plant-based people (including us) eat some of the cheapest items on the market on a regular basis: beans, rice, and vegetables. Living in a cold climate makes it a bit difficult to grow a lot of your own food so most of us have to rely on grocery stores and imported produce for much of the year.

Since going vegan, my husband and I have trimmed up to $20 per week off of our grocery bill ($80 per month is nothing to scoff at!).

Here’s my top 5 tips for saving money as a vegan in a cold climate:

Cook beans from scratch. A 1.8 kg bag of dried chickpeas where I live is currently $5.78. A single can (548 ml) is between $1.08 and $1.38 depending on the brand. This is about 1 1/2 cups of beans. The 1.8 kg bag will yield approximately 15 x 1 1/2 cup servings once cooked. This is $0.39 cents per serving and a huge saving over the convenience of the canned beans.

Eat in season whenever possible. This is hard when it feels like winter lasts forever. Regardless of your location, in-season produce is always cheaper. We eat a ton of squash in the fall and wait until May-ish for rhubarb. Avocados and oranges will never grow here, so we know these items are always going to be more expensive than apples or potatoes, for example.

Buy in bulk. If you eat the same things regularly (beans, rice, lentils, etc.) that won’t go bad, buying larger packages will almost always save you money. Check the cost per gram or ml on the price sticker – many grocery stores show this information – to be sure this is true before stocking up! You can also take your own jars to stores like Bulk Barn and many other places to avoid plastic packaging.

Meal plan, meal plan, meal plan. This is the secret to avoiding wasted food and wasted money. Check out the flyers for your local store to see what is on sale – and in season – before shopping. If it’s cheaper to buy a huge box of mushrooms than a small one, have 2-3 meals involving mushrooms that week to ensure they all get used up. If you live close to more than one store you can do a price comparison on the ingredients you use most to ensure you’re getting the best price.

Don’t buy items that are specifically labelled or marketed as “vegan”. Being vegan gets expensive as soon as you start relying on pre-packaged convenience foods. This is true for any “diet” or lifestyle, but plant-based meat replacements and snacks are often far more costly than their carnivorous counterparts. Since most of what we eat – vegetables – are always vegan-friendly, sticking to whole foods will help keep more money in your wallet.